Jammu, June 23: The authorities in Jammu University Monday evening said they have cancelled the reservation of the varsity auditorium for a joint function of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat and BJP president Rajnath Singh are expected to visit the Jammu and Kashmir Jammu Tuesday to observe the death anniversary of the founder of Jan Sangh, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who died in a state prison June 23, 1953.
Bhagwat and Rajnath Singh were to address a function in the university auditorium.
But the varsity authorities denied them the facility, saying they were earlier told that the auditorium was required for a seminar on national integration.
But when it became known that the RSS chief and the BJP president would be addressing the conference, the permission was withdrawn, said an official.
“We were misled. We have withdrawn the permission for the afternoon session, when the two leaders will address the conference at the auditorium,” the official said.
The leaders were to pay tributes to the Jan Sangh founder, Mukherjee, who was imprisoned for entering the state without a proper permit in violation of the Article 370. His entry was in protest against the separate constitution, head of the state and flag of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mukherjee wanted that Jammu and Kashmir be declared as an integral part of India and governed like any other state of the country.
Those days a special permit was needed to visit the state, which had its prime minister (wazeer-e-azam) and president (sadr-e-riyasat). The nomenclatures were later changed to the chief minister and the governor respectively and the special permit too was abrogated.
But the state continues to enjoy special status under Article 370 with its own flag and constitution.
The RSS and BJP have been demanding revocation of the article.
–IANS–